The soldier in custody was described by one U.S. official in Washington
as a staff sergeant who was married with three children. The sergeant
had served three tours in Iraq but was on his first deployment in
Afghanistan, the official said.
The burning of copies of Koran at Bagram air base touched off widespread
anger among Afghan officials, security forces and civilians alike. It
also shows the challenges that remain as foreign forces prepare to
withdraw combat troops and hand security responsibility to Afghans by
the end of 2014.
Sunday's attack may also harden a growing consensus in Washington about
what can be accomplished in Afghanistan even after a troop surge meant
to turn the war around.
The bill for the war has already exceeded $500 billion and more than
1,900 U.S. troops have been killed, with the total number of foreign
troops killed approaching 3,000.
"These killings only serve to reinforce the mindset that the whole war
is broken and that there's little we can do about it beyond trying to
cut our losses and leave," said Joshua Foust, a security expert with the
American Security Project.
http://my.news.yahoo.com/sixteen-afghan-civilians-killed-rogue-u-attack-023346143.html
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